In Maxim editor Blanchard’s debut novel, Jason, a charming but dissolute ad exec, meets Amanda, a smoldering law student who fires up his imagination (and his loins) when she tells him about a 17th-century deed that could make him heir to the island of Manhattan. Doubtful but lustful, Jason joins her quest and – you guessed it –falls for her. The Deed is featherweight and predictable, but Blanchard nails the patter of New York scenesters and offers clever elucidations of their overweening ambition. It’s as fun as it is implausible – a big kiss to the city and the outsize dreams that have inspired its denizens since Henry Hudson first sailed by.